View the complete Washington State Women's History Selections collection.

Introduction:

     These documents have been selected from a variety of collections in MASC. Each has special relevance to the history of women in Washington State.

The following manuscript and university archives collections are represented (Note: please link all to finding aids): Tannatt Family papers (1813-1919; Cage 65), Enoch Albert Bryant papers (1843-1989; Cage 579a), Homer H. Hill papers (1877-1933; Cage 118), Associated Women Students of WSU records (1910-1974; Archives 115), Women's Physical Education Department records (1923-1976; Archives 19), Washington State University Women's Club papers (1913-1995; Cage 627), and the John Rankin Rogers papers (1814-1928; Cage 615). Selections from one printed book, "The Washington Women's Cook Book" (Seattle: Washington Equal Suffrage Association, 1909; call number 641.9 J44) are also included here.

Each of these unique or rare documents provides a glimpse into "hidden" history. The time period from 1870 to 1950 was selected to encompass the suffrage movement, important developments in Washington State history, and the general economic and social status of women. Collections in MASC were canvassed to identify and enhance access to particularly interesting or representative documents. In 2007, the selected items were scanned and described as part of the statewide Women's History Consortium project. The Women's History Consortium (WHC) was created in 2005 by Washington State statute (RCW 27.34.360) as an initiative led by the Washington State Historical Society. The WHC is dedicated to preserving and enhancing access to resources for research in Washington women's history, and provided funding for this project. More information about the WHC is available at www.washingtonwomenshistory.org.

The Selections:

The items for this digital collection were selected because of their relevance to Washington women's history, and because of their rarity.

Several general subject areas are represented, including (but are not limited to): Washington State's woman suffrage movement, the national suffrage movement, the economic advancement of women, vocations for women, the social roles of women, and women's experiences at Washington State University. Digitized items include printed ephemera (brochures, bulletins, handbooks, newspaper clippings), manuscripts, transcripts, photographs, and memorabilia.

Suffrage Cartoon featuring Abraham Lincoln Quote, Seattle, 1910

This item is an example of a selection taken from the Homer H. Hill collection. The cartoon depicts a scene in which women are cordoned off from the ballot box by sinister looking male figures while a mournful Uncle Sam reluctantly holds the gate. This item was one of several found in the Homer Hill collection. Hill was a prominent publisher and politician in Seattle during the late 1880s to early 1900s. While it has not been previously documented that he supported the Washington state suffrage movement, the presence of these items among his papers suggests that he took interest in their work.

Viewing the Database:

Viewing and searching options for this collection are located above. Clicking on "Browse the Women's History collection" will allow you to view the entire collection, arranged alphabetically by title. A pre-selected list of subjects is provided in the drop-down box labeled "Predefined Searches." Choose a subject and click the "go" button to view results. Entering search terms in the "Keyword Search" box located at the top of the page will search across all of the database fields. Search results are displayed as a series of "thumbnail" images that may be browsed both forward and backward. To view a larger image with its corresponding description, click on the thumbnail or its title. The display of results may be customized by clicking on "preferences" in the top navigation bar.

Once you have selected an item, on the left-hand side of the screen you will see the title of the object and any additional pages. Click the page number to view other pages of the item. Also, above the title for the item, you will see a drop down box. Select "document description" for general and descriptive information of the item, or "page description" for information about a specific page.

Options to start a new search, browse, or return to the MASC front page are provided along the top banner, as is a choice to return to your search results. Throughout your search, assistance is available by clicking "help," located in the top navigation bar.

Creating the Database:

This digital collection was created in Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC), WSU Libraries, as part of the Women's History Consortium project. Laila Miletic-Vejzovic, Head of MASC, served as the principal investigator and coordinated WSU's participation in the consortium. Under the supervision of Cheryl Gunselman, graduate student Kathleen Searles canvassed collections, selected items for digitization, and scanned them on an OpticBook 3600 Plus scanner and an Epson Expression 10000 XL scanner as 300dpi TIFF files. Items were modified for clarity using Adobe Photoshop CS2. All scans were added to CONTENTdm as 72dpi JPEG files.

Kathleen Searles conducted background research and authored descriptive metadata using the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set. The subject headings were derived from the Library of Congress' controlled vocabulary. Alex Merrill provided technical support for website design and the use of CONTENTdm. The project was made possible through a grant from the Women's History Consortium (WHC).

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